SOCIAL ATTENTION AND MEMORY IN YOUTH WITH ASD, ADNP SYNDROME, AND FOXP1 SYNDROME

The current study used eye tracking and behavioral measures to examine social attention and recognition memory in two rare genetic disorders commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): ADNP syndrome and FOXP1 syndrome. Impairment in social functioning is considered a core deficit in ASD. Although individuals with ADNP syndrome and FOXP1 syndrome typically present with symptoms of ASD, research suggests several dissimilarities in symptom presence and severity between the groups. Thus, there is a need to clarify disorder-specific patterns of social attention and their relationships to observed social skills. A visual paired comparison eye tracking task was used to assess social attention and memory in youth with ADNP syndrome (n = 18) and FOXP1 syndrome (n = 9) compared to youth with idiopathic ASD (n = 90) and typically developing controls (n = 43). Diagnostic groups demonstrated similar within-group attention to social and non-social stimuli but differences in engagement with the presented stimuli depending on stimulus type and image location. Rare genetic disorder groups also demonstrated differences in preferential looking patterns for novel versus familiar stimuli. Correlations with behavioral measures were examined for each group, with the social problems domain of the CBCL demonstrating the highest correlations with the ADNP group and the socialization domains of caregiver-report interviews (i.e., Vineland-3, ADI-R) demonstrating the highest correlations with the FOXP1 group. These findings offer a characterization of social attention and memory patterns in youth with these rare conditions that yields insight into subtle differences in information processing across disorders

Crystal Structure of the Sodium Cobaltate Deuterate Superconductor NaxCoO2o4xD2O (x=1/3)

Neutron and x-ray powder diffraction have been used to investigate the crystal structures of a sample of the newly-discovered superconducting sodium cobaltate deuterate compound with composition Na0.31(3)CoO2o1.25(2)D2O and its anhydrous parent compound Na0.61(1)CoO2. The deuterate superconducting compound is formed by coordinating four D2O molecules (two above and two below) to each Na ion in a way that gives Na-O distances nearly equal to those in the parent compound. One deuteron of the D2O molecule is hydrogen bonded to an oxygen atom in the CoO2 plane and the oxygen atom and the second deuteron of each D2O molecule lie approximately in a plane between the Na layer and the CoO2 layers. This coordination of Na by four D2O molecules leads to ordering of the Na ions and D2O molecules. The sample studied here, which has Tc=4.5 K, has a refined composition of Na0.31(3)CoO2o1.25(2)D2O, in agreement with the expected 1:4 ratio of Na to D2O. These results show that the optimal superconducting composition should be viewed as a specific hydrated compound, not a solid solution of Na and D2O (H2O) in NaxCoO2oyD2O. Studies of physical properties vs. Na or D2O composition should be viewed with caution until it is verified that the compound remains in the same phase over the composition range of the study.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure

Voltage, Stability and Diffusion Barrier Differences between Sodium-ion and Lithium-ion Intercalation Materials

To evaluate the potential of Na-ion batteries, we contrast in this work the difference between Na-ion and Li-ion based intercalation chemistries in terms of three key battery properties—voltage, phase stability and diffusion barriers. The compounds investigated comprise the layered AMO2 and AMS2 structures, the olivine and maricite AMPO4 structures, and the NASICON A3V2(PO4)3 structures. The calculated Na voltages for the compounds investigated are 0.18–0.57 V lower than that of the corresponding Li voltages, in agreement with previous experimental data. We believe the observed lower voltages for Na compounds are predominantly a cathodic effect related to the much smaller energy gain from inserting Na into the host structure compared to inserting Li. We also found a relatively strong dependence of battery properties on structural features. In general, the difference between the Na and Li voltage of the same structure, ΔVNa–Li, is less negative for the maricite structures preferred by Na, and more negative for the olivine structures preferred by Li. The layered compounds have the most negative ΔVNa–Li. In terms of phase stability, we found that open structures, such as the layered and NASICON structures, that are better able to accommodate the larger Na+ ion generally have both Na and Li versions of the same compound. For the close-packed AMPO4 structures, our results show that Na generally prefers the maricite structure, while Li prefers the olivine structure, in agreement with previous experimental work. We also found surprising evidence that the barriers for Na+ migration can potentially be lower than that for Li+ migration in the layered structures. Overall, our findings indicate that Na-ion systems can be competitive with Li-ion systems.United States. Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-11-1-0212)United States. Dept. of Energy (Contract DE-FG02 96ER45571)United States. Dept. of Energy (BATT program under Contract DE-AC02-05CH11231

Are Child and Adolescent Responses to Placebo Higher in Major Depression than in Anxiety Disorders? A Systematic Review of Placebo-Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND: In a previous report, we hypothesized that responses to placebo were high in child and adolescent depression because of specific psychopathological factors associated with youth major depression. The purpose of this study was to compare the placebo response rates in pharmacological trials for major depressive disorder (MDD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other anxiety disorders (AD-non-OCD). METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We reviewed the literature relevant to the use of psychotropic medication in children and adolescents with internalized disorders, restricting our review to double-blind studies including a placebo arm. Placebo response rates were pooled and compared according to diagnosis (MDD vs. OCD vs. AD-non-OCD), age (adolescent vs. child), and date of publication. From 1972 to 2007, we found 23 trials that evaluated the efficacy of psychotropic medication (mainly non-tricyclic antidepressants) involving youth with MDD, 7 pertaining to youth with OCD, and 10 pertaining to youth with other anxiety disorders (N = 2533 patients in placebo arms). As hypothesized, the placebo response rate was significantly higher in studies on MDD, than in those examining OCD and AD-non-OCD (49.6% [range: 17-90%] vs. 31% [range: 4-41%] vs. 39.6% [range: 9-53], respectively, ANOVA F = 7.1, p = 0.002). Children showed a higher stable placebo response within all three diagnoses than adolescents, though this difference was not significant. Finally, no significant effects were found with respect to the year of publication. CONCLUSION: MDD in children and adolescents appears to be more responsive to placebo than other internalized conditions, which highlights differential psychopathology

Recovery of dialysis patients with COVID-19 : health outcomes 3 months after diagnosis in ERACODA

Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related short-term mortality is high in dialysis patients, but longer-term outcomes are largely unknown. We therefore assessed patient recovery in a large cohort of dialysis patients 3 months after their COVID-19 diagnosis. Methods. We analyzed data on dialysis patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from 1 February 2020 to 31 March 2021 from the European Renal Association COVID-19 Database (ERACODA). The outcomes studied were patient survival, residence and functional and mental health status (estimated by their treating physician) 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis. Complete follow-up data were available for 854 surviving patients. Patient characteristics associated with recovery were analyzed using logistic regression. Results. In 2449 hemodialysis patients (mean ± SD age 67.5 ± 14.4 years, 62% male), survival probabilities at 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis were 90% for nonhospitalized patients (n = 1087), 73% for patients admitted to the hospital but not to an intensive care unit (ICU) (n = 1165) and 40% for those admitted to an ICU (n = 197). Patient survival hardly decreased between 28 days and 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis. At 3 months, 87% functioned at their pre-existent functional and 94% at their pre-existent mental level. Only few of the surviving patients were still admitted to the hospital (0.8-6.3%) or a nursing home (∼5%). A higher age and frailty score at presentation and ICU admission were associated with worse functional outcome. Conclusions. Mortality between 28 days and 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis was low and the majority of patients who survived COVID-19 recovered to their pre-existent functional and mental health level at 3 months after diagnosis

Operanto magnetic measurements : a new approach to characterise cobalt catalysts during activation and Fischer-Tropch synthesis

International @ INGENIERIE+LBC:YSCInternational audienceNon